Salmon

Background

. old news .

Cirrus was born in the Plane of Air, a jaathoom with parents who seemed to move wherever the wind took them. They were free spirits who made their living through trade, and good trading required frequent travel. Cirrus never experienced a permanent home during his younger years, living with consistent movement from city to city.

Growing up in such an environment, they'd gotten aquainted with the routine rather quickly. Wherever they would make a stop, Cirrus would make a point of exploring the area as much as he could, meeting local kids and getting to know them for a short while before they'd be on the move once again. Although these relationships would always be brief, Cirrus enjoyed the company and fun stories that would come out of them regardless.

Cirrus' parents were the sort who believed in teaching through experience rather than sitting down with pen and paper. They would often tell Cirrus stories of the places they'd been before and the things they'd learned from the people they'd met, which Cirrus found to be immensely interesting. He'd spend many nights scouring through books they'd give him, dreaming of someday being able to travel to these far-off lands, particularly those beyond their elemental plane.

By the time Cirrus was nearly a teenager, his curiousity for the worlds beyond the Plane of Air had become nearly unbarable. His parents, wanting nothing more than to foster this excitement and allow their child to broaden his horizons, began making arrangements for him to make the trip down to the expansive world that is the rest of the Universe.

Getting in contact with his mother's sister- Cirrus' aunt Valkyrie, who had already migrated to the Universe just a bit before Cirrus had been born- a plan was made to send Cirrus through a teleporation channel to live with her. Despite the risks that came with such a move, seeing as cross-planar travel was known to be heavily unstable ever since the Final War, Cirrus was thrilled by the prospect and agreed to go regardless.

In his anticipation the trip to the teleportation site seemed to fly by, and soon enough it was time for Cirrus to go. With a pack of belongings including a family photo to remember them by, Cirrus promised his parents that he would come back one day to tell them all about what he'd learned in the Universe, and they assured him that they'd be eagerly waiting to hear all about it. After a goodbye that felt more like a 'see you soon', Cirrus entered the rift between planes and was gone.

Cirrus doesn't remember much about the joruney itself. It felt like flying, surrounded by lights and colors that overwealmed his senses. They felt weightless, formless. Untethered.

They only knew they had arrived in the Universe when they felt solid ground beneath their feet. It was darker than they'd thought- and much louder for certain. A sudden wave of sound crashed over them as they ventured further from the rift and into a sea of commuters, hurrying this way and that without so much as giving him a second thought.

Cirrus tried to call out to someone, anyone, in the pitch dark expanse they found themself in; but their words seemed to get lodged in their throat. He first tried to speak, then to yell, then to scream at the top of his lungs, but nothing at all would come out. The most he'd heard were some startled exclamations from passerby- but he couldn't hear his own voice.

He'd begun to panic, then. Everything felt like too much. He was alone in an entirely new plane of existance and he had no means of seeking his aunt, let alone finding help at all. They were pushed and shoved by passerby they couldn't see, desperately trying to cry out for Valkyrie to no avail. The stench of sweat and smoke in the air made him want to gag, but he could open no mouth to cough. They could feel a sensation similar to what it had been like in the space between planes, their body seeming to lose its shape and dematerialize.

Eventually, amidst everything, they heard their name being called. They rushed towards the familiar sound without waiting another beat, soon crashing into the arms of his aunt Valkyrie. They tried with everything they could muster to communicate, to ask why everything was so dark and loud and smelly, but once again not a word made it past his throat. His heart sank, and he buried his head into his aunt's shoulder as she picked him up and gently soothed him on their way out of the station.

Valkyrie knew no more about Cirrus' condition than he did. Initial introductions were interrupted by a spell of research as she tried desperately to find out why her sister's supposed jaathoom child had showed up looking like a sentient plume of smoke. Eventually she came across the answer; he was no longer a jaathoom at all, but an astomoi, a being that came about through the corruption of a creature from the elemental planes.

Cirrus was kept oblivious to this at first. Instead, all he was told was that he'd gone through certain.. changes during his trip between the planes. Most obvious to note; he would never be able to see again, nor speak with lips and tongue. He was mortified. Everything he'd been hoping for suddenly seemed impossible.

Rather than learning about the new world, Cirrus would spend their first few days in the Universe mainly learning more about their new self, with Valkyrie taking care in helping him adjust however she could. He tried to be a good sport about it, getting just a bit of hope back when they realized they could communticate telepathically, but his attitude was a farcry from the excitement and wonder he'd felt before actually arriving here. He'd lost much of his confidence, now preferring to cling to Valkyrie's side more than anything as she was the only thing that made him feel stable.

Although Valkyrie was patient with him, she felt terrible that he'd come all this way just to be lonely and disappointed. Over time, Cirrus was steadily introduced to more of the Universe and what it had to offer. It was a slow process- several weeks had passed before he even felt comfortable enough leaving Valkyrie's house- but it was one she felt was necessary nontheless.

Eventually one of these outings would lead them to a nearby playground, where Cirrus was encouraged to try and meet some other kids. They gave it a solid effort, but quickly found that most other kids were more frightened than friendly when he tried speaking with them telepathically. Discouraged, but knowing that Valkyrie wouldn't be happy to see him running back to her so soon, he tried to find a quiet place where he'd be able to simply sit in the sand. He thought he'd found such a place in a little alcove beneath the stairs- but soon discovered that it already 'belonged' to a young grippli.

Confused as to how someone could 'own' a piece of a public playground, Cirrus' curiosity got the better of them, and they tried asking the grippli more about what he meant. To their relief, although the grippli was a bit defensive, he was at least willing to talk to Cirrus at all despite the telepathy. They struck up a small conversation that wound up with a 'deal' involving Cirrus retrieving some water for the grippli in exchange for actually being able to stay with him in this space beneath the stairs. Even if the meeting was brief, as Cirrus eventually had to return home, they felt a bit brighter knowing that there was someone out there that wouldn't turn them away right off the bat. They assured the grippli that they'd come see them again tommorrow, and left the playground that day in a far better mood than when they'd arrived.

Valkyrie was thrilled to hear that Cirrus had supposedly made a friend, and so agreed to continue bringing them back to that park each time he asked. Which.. ended up being nearly every day, the only exception really being when it rained. Each time they went, Cirrus would seek out the grippli right away, and the two would continue their little routine of fetch quests in exchange for comapny.

Cirrus would eventually get into the habit of bringing things from home for the grippli to identify and describe, seeing as he couldn't see the items himself. He found the grippli to be incredibly knowledgable about a lot of things, which greatly impressed him- even if he wasn't aware that a majority of that knowledge was either biased or completely untrue. Regardless, it stoked his love of learning, and he was always eager to hear what the grippli had to say. One day, after a discussion in which Cirrus realized he didn't know the grippli's name and neither did the grippli himself, he brought a book of amphibians so they could figure it out themselves. Mistakingly believing the grippli to be an axolotl, they decided then and there that Axolotl would be his name- or "Axe" for short. Now with an official name for his friend, Cirrus would talk about Axe and their latest discoveries nonstop to Valkyrie.

This friendship only strengthened over time, even when Cirrus would eventually be enrolled in a local school. Despite not being able to see Axe as often, they still made time to visit him at the playground whenever possible, always eager to share what they'd learned at school with him and hear what Axe had been up to while they were gone.

After knowing eachother for almost two years, it eventually came up that Axe was getting a bit too big for the playground he'd been calling home. Cirrus seemed to have the solution for this immediately: obviously, Axe could come live with him and Valkyrie! Although when proposed with the idea Valkyrie wasn't exactly overjoyed at the prospect of having another child to take care of, she didn't have it in her to say no. So, Cirrus and Axe became roommates.

From then on, they would be inseperable. Although he didn't conciously realize it at the time, having Axe around steadily helped Cirrus regain his confidence. His questions didn't feel silly when he asked Axe about them, since Axe had a lot of questions that Cirrus could answer too. Tasks that had once seemed overwealming now felt more manageable when they could be done as a pair. Going out without Valkyrie didn't feel as frightening when he knew Axe was there with him. They found that they simply felt safe around him.

By the time Cirrus- who'd taken on the nickname 'Salmon' after developing a hatred for fish- was 18, he and Axe had already made a gameplan for their future. They would become private investigators! Having given it much thought (and reading a lot about crime in the newspapers) they figured it was the perfect plan, as Salmon was adept at solving mysteries and puzzles while Axe would be better at the more 'exciting' (violent) side of things. With their minds made up, a foolproof plan ahead of them, and a signifigant donation of money from aunt Valkyrie, they struck out on their own in the hopes of making it big.

Present

. coming up next .

Now they haven't exactly made it big... yet. They've been able to afford a meager apartment/base of operations, paying for it by working whatever jobs they can find at the time.

While their little detective agency is technically open, they've only had one real case, and that had been a mess so disastrous that they'd had to lay low for a while after the fact. Now with that particular incident having been a little ways in the past though, they're certain that their *real* first big case will come calling for them at any given moment.

And to their credit, their patience seems to have paid off, as they've just recently recieved a letter calling them to take on a real, bonafied mission! Although it's a bit strange that their newest client has remained anonymous, that's hardly important in comparison to the sizable sum of money they've offered to pay for what seems to be a fairly simple job. At least Salmon certainly thinks so, insisting that it'll be a walk in the park for professionals like them. Even if they are being forced to partner up with some other folks, he's confident that they'll be able to get the job done just fine!